Iceland

In a recent letter (Nov. 30) Margaret Mayotte of Glendale writes about the sexual harassment women have suffered at the Los Angeles Police Department. At the end of the letter she states "We don't need such people (i.e. 'juvenile, insensitive macho creatures') representing our LAPD. Let them find a job where their jokes and digs may be appreciated--digging ditches in Iceland." This statement reflects a similar kind of ignorance and prejudice that Mayotte is accusing these "macho creatures" for holding.

It was well known for many years that Japan's "scientific whaling" program was a sham, designed to get around the international moratorium on hunting whales. Almost no research on the animals came from Japanese scientists; instead, whale meat kept showing up in restaurants and school lunches. Finally, Australia, a whaling country until 1978 and now an avid opponent, called Japan's bluff over the hundreds of whales it killed each year in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary surrounding Antarctica.

Part of the cure ? or cause ? of Iceland's spectacular economic meltdown sits here on a rugged fiord backed by frigid blue waters and snowcapped mountains. It's a massive aluminum smelter on the harbor's edge, sprawling over a few hundred acres. Owned by Century Aluminum Co. of Monterey, Calif., and fueled by geothermal energy and hydropower, the plant churns out nearly 300,000 tons of aluminum a year, to be shipped to customers around the world. When Iceland's economy collapsed in 2008, pushing the country to the brink of bankruptcy, production here and at two other smelters continued, which helped keep exports alive through two years of painful recession.

When filmmaker Darren Aronofsky started scouting locations for his biblical flood epic, "Noah," he had two potentially competing needs. The landscapes on which he would shoot exteriors needed at first to look like an uninhabitable wasteland, and, after the deluge, a new garden of Eden, where Noah, his family and his ark of animals could begin to repopulate the earth. The writer-director's production team considered Death Valley, deserts in Mexico and the Canary Islands. But when they visited Iceland, "Noah" found its port of call.

For the first time in Iceland's modern history, police carried out a fatal shooting early Monday during an exchange of gunfire with a man reported to be firing at cars from his apartment window. Two police officers were wounded in the shootout that followed a 5 a.m. emergency call from neighbors, Euronews quoted an Icelandic news agency as reporting. The 59-year-old victim from eastern Reykjavik, who wasn't immediately identified, was taken to an area hospital where he died of his wounds.

On her way back to the U.S. from Norway, Times reader "HannaSofieEide" and her husband stopped by the Blue Lagoon in Iceland . "It was an unforgettable experience and truly magical," she said. The Blue Lagoon is a geothermal spa near Reykjavik, Iceland's capital. Its water supply comes from a geothermal power plant that's fueled by water from a nearby lava flow. The lagoon's mineral-rich waters are said to have healing properties. View past photos we've featured . To upload your own, visit our reader travel photo gallery . When you upload your photo, tell us where it was taken and when.

When filmmaker Darren Aronofsky started scouting locations for his biblical flood epic, "Noah," he had two potentially competing needs. The landscapes on which he would shoot exteriors needed at first to look like an uninhabitable wasteland, and, after the deluge, a new garden of Eden, where Noah, his family and his ark of animals could begin to repopulate the earth. The writer-director's production team considered Death Valley, deserts in Mexico and the Canary Islands. But when they visited Iceland, "Noah" found its port of call.

Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev's wife, Raisa, will accompany him to next weekend's summit here with President Reagan, Iceland Prime Minister Steingrimur Hermannsson said Sunday. Mrs. Gorbachev, who also accompanied her husband to the last summit with Reagan in Geneva last November, will be the guest of Hermannsson's wife, Edda Gudmundsdottir. In Washington, White House spokesman Dale Petroskey said President Reagan's wife, Nancy, "has no plans to go" with him to Reykjavik.

We are compelled to respond to the article "Feminists of Iceland Aim to Call Shots," by Bella Stumbo (Part I, Aug. 19). It is written with prejudices in an arrogant fashion and full of untruths and distortions. The author seemingly set out to ridicule the Women's Alliance Party, its individual members and the Icelandic system of government. She arrogantly passes judgment as a specialist on the matter with intimate knowledge, while quotes of history and descriptions of current events are often wrong and distorted.

We spent two weeks in Iceland in August and saw a different country from the one written about in Margo Pfeiff's article, "A Land That Runs Hot and Cold" [Sept. 19]. We traveled with Elderhostel to three major cities and did day trips. Two trips, one for birding and one to see whales, put us on the fiords and sea. Geologists led trips to craters, volcanic fields of lava and tours of geothermal plants. Lectures by college agricultural and fisheries experts also filled our days. Storytellers of sagas, and music and dance by the talented locals kept evenings interesting.

Could this year's Sundance "it" girl be a male, seventysomething physician from Kentucky? It could happen once audiences spend some time with Earl Lynn Nelson, one of the stars of the travelogue comedy “Land Ho!” The film premieres Sunday as part of the Next section at Sundance. It was written and directed by Martha Stephens and Aaron Katz, who have made a splash on the festival circuit with such individual efforts as “Passenger Pigeons” and “Cold Weather,” and both filmmakers are showing their work at Sundance for the first time . “Land Ho!

For the first time in Iceland's modern history, police carried out a fatal shooting early Monday during an exchange of gunfire with a man reported to be firing at cars from his apartment window. Two police officers were wounded in the shootout that followed a 5 a.m. emergency call from neighbors, Euronews quoted an Icelandic news agency as reporting. The 59-year-old victim from eastern Reykjavik, who wasn't immediately identified, was taken to an area hospital where he died of his wounds.

Iceland moved 90 minutes closer to becoming the smallest nation ever to qualify for the World Cup when it held visiting Croatia to a scoreless draw Friday in the first game of their two-leg UEFA playoff. The teams will meet in a rematch Tuesday in Croatia with the winner moving on to Brazil next summer. Six other UEFA teams also played first-leg matches Friday with Portugal beating Sweden, 1-0, on a late goal from Cristiano Ronaldo while Greece got two scores from Kostas Mitroglou to beat Romania, 3-1; and Ukraine whipped France, 2-0. The winners in each playoff will be decided on aggregate goals over the two games.

The remote Faroe Islands, midway between Scotland and Iceland, will be within the "path of totality" for a total solar eclipse on March 20, 2015. Eclipse-chasers who visit this small group of islands that just 50,000 people call home can expect to see 2 minutes, 9 seconds of totality on that day, if viewing conditions are good. That's the word from Chicago-based Great Canadian Travel Co. , which offers an 11-day eclipse trip that begins and ends in Iceland . Participants fly from Iceland to the islands to see Torshavn , the capital, and the islands' rugged side places such as Roykstovan, Gjogv, Eidi and other villages.

In the world of Westeros, the man who is the King's Hand seems to get replaced like clockwork. In the real world of HBO's "Game of Thrones," that rotating role is Gregor Clegane. Clegane, known as The Mountain, will be played by a new actor in the show's upcoming fourth season. Icelandic actor and strongman contest competitor Hafthor Julius Bjornsson tweeted the news earlier this week. "For all my fans! I am happy to tell you that I will be THE MOUNTAIN In season 4 In Game Of Thrones :)

Whether he is a traitor or not, fugitive Edward Snowden is being treated like one. None of the 21 countries to which he has appealed for asylum had gotten back to him with an unequivocally positive answer by Tuesday, when speculation about his future had become so overheated that European countries were denying air space entry to planes they feared might be carrying the 30-year-old leaker of U.S. government secrets. Some states to which Snowden turned for help, like India, Poland and Germany, have said “no” outright.

Now that the leader boards in European airports are again listing flights that are on time, and stranded travelers are finding their way, perhaps we might pause to say thanks to the volcano that blew its stack in Iceland. When Eyjafjallajokull erupted on April 14, the diminutive but destructive Icelandic corker did us an unheralded favor. Believe it or not, all that ash swirling into the upper atmosphere was actually a minor boon to the war on global warming. About 11,000 European and international flights a day were canceled, and grounded aircraft don't pollute.

The Big Mac, long a symbol of globalization, has become the latest victim of this tiny island nation's overexposure to the world financial crisis. Iceland's three McDonald's restaurants -- all in the capital, Reykjavik -- will close next weekend as the franchise owner surrenders to falling profits caused by the collapse in Iceland's currency, the krona. "The economic situation has just made it too expensive for us," Magnus Ogmundsson, the managing director of Lyst Hr., McDonald's franchise holder in Iceland, said Monday.

I hate to say this. Well, maybe I don't. It appears that Edward Snowden, the 30-year-old computer analyst hiding in broad daylight, has managed not only to throw a wrench into U.S. foreign policy but also to outfox the very national security apparatus whose overreach he warned against. It's pretty astonishing that our government can figure out a way to vacuum up our every phone call, email and text message but can't get its hands on Snowden, who left Hong Kong for Russia on Sunday, and may be there still, as he figures out how to make his way to what he has (inexplicably)

Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi may work in a vein most closely aligned with classical music, but listeners of Radiohead, Sigur Ros and Iceland's Jóhann Jóhannsson will feel immediately drawn to the dramatic, evocative sweep of his music. Inspired by the writings of Thoreau, Einaudi's latest album, "In a Time Lapse," should pair well with the Ford Theater's bucolic setting with a lush mix of delicate piano, strings and well-placed electronics. John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd., East, Hollywood.